'91 suspect in murder back in Ft. Wayne

December 09, 2006

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) -- A man wanted in the 1991 murder of an Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne associate professor returned Friday to face trial, Allen County Jail officials said. Benjie S. Blauvelt is charged with murder, robbery and burglary in the death of 33-year-old Maurice Lam. Blauvelt was transported to Fort Wayne by a private company from San Antonio, Texas, where he was arrested Aug. 23 after he was pulled over for a traffic violation. He was booked into the Allen County jail Friday morning after recently dropping his fight against extradition. Lam, an electrical engineer, was bludgeoned to death with a weightlifting barbell Dec. 14, 1991, after three men lured him into an apartment, investigators said. Lam's credit cards and checkbook were stolen before his body was weighted down with concrete blocks and thrown into the St. Joseph River. It surfaced three months later. Two other men are in prison for the crime.